Metal Pieces
by Cireca S.A.M
Summary: A series of one-shots I to help myself overcome writer's block. 1. Johnny and Ponyboy spend some quality time with each other, hanging out and bonding. They make a bet that invloves Dallas Winston. EDITED. Thank you to spicygurl, for reviewing.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. I also do not own the characters from The Outsiders that I used in this.**

**A/N: Well, it's the last day of the trip. I think it's safe to say that you guys shouldn't be expecting daily updates/new stories for a while. I know I'm posting this kind of late, but hey, no one is perfect. Anyway, this fic (which of course has Johnny) is a bit sillier and brighter than most of my other fics that I have written. Mainly, I only wrote this little thing to keep my writing mind healthy, because I almost came down with a case of writer's block. So, instead of posting this as a one-shot, I'll leave it as incomplete so that if I need to get in the mood, I can always write another little part in this series of funny, happy stories. **

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed and favorited my other stories. I didn't expect them to go over so well so quickly! I hope you enjoy this one, too. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Wow, sorry for the long author's note. If you read all of it, kudos to you. =)**

**Edit: So, I'm sitting here wearing my brother's new Halo hat and reading over my stories. When I get to this one, it finally dawns on me. Thinking of what kind of grammar and spelling I use at one o'clock in the morning makes me sick. Thank you, to anyone who read this in it's un-edited version, and especially to ****spicygurl****, who still took the time to enjoy and review the piece-of-crap version of this story. I can not stress how sorry I am. **

**P.S. I also realize that Dally may be a little OOC in this, but I mainly only made this for fun. **

Ponyboy sat across from Johnny, chewing on a piece of bubblegum. A school yearbook sat between the two, and Ponyboy pointed to a girl in the top row.

"How about her?" he asked Johnny.

"Eh, six," Johnny said.

"Five," argued Ponyboy. Johnny did not have very high standards for what was considered pretty. Then again, neither one was in a position to be too picky. "What about this, uh, this Mary girl down here?" he questioned his friend.

"Seven," answered Johnny.

Ponyboy corrected, "Eight. You should see her below the shoulders." He held his hands five inches away from his chest. "Out to _here_," he mouthed to his friend.

Johnny grinned and then chuckled. He skipped a few pages until he found who he was looking for. "Hey, there's your girl," he teased Ponyboy, pointing to a picture of Cherry Valance.

"Ah, come on, man," Ponyboy whined, flipping a few more pages. When they came to the junior class, he pointed down at another girl, Sylvia. "There's Dally's girl," he told Johnny. "I don't know why she would fall for a greasy hood like him."

"It's 'cause she's just as greasy," Johnny laughed.

For once, Johnny was enjoying himself. He liked days like today. He had spent the night at Ponyboy's house. Sodapop and Darry had already left for work, and it was still only Ponyboy and Johnny for now. While he did like the rest of the guys, he always felt most comfortable with Ponyboy. Today, his friend had surprised him by bringing out their school yearbook, and the boys were currently busy rating girls. Sodapop and Darry both thought that neither Ponyboy nor Johnny was into girls, but they were wrong. Contrary to some teasings of the Socs, Johnny and Ponyboy were indeed both boys; teenagers, in fact. And so, just like all boys their age, they thought about girls.

"Hey, where's my brother's girlfriend?" Ponyboy wondered aloud, scanning through the pictures. Finally he found her. "Right here."

"Man, she's cute and all," Johnny said, "but I bet he could do better."

"I know he could," agreed Ponyboy. Then he suddenly said, "Ten."

"Huh?"

"I bet that's what all the girls would rate Soda. I bet they'd all rate him a ten."

Johnny nodded in agreement before asking, "Do girls rate guys like we rate them?"

"I guess so," replied Ponyboy. "I mean, why wouldn't they?"

Johnny took that as a good enough answer and shrugged. "If I was a girl," he said, "I'd rate Soda a ten, too."

"What would you rate me?" Ponyboy questioned.

Johnny looked up at him. "I don't know. An eight, I guess." When an awkward silence set in, Johnny became nervous. "Why, what would you rate me?"

Ponyboy hesitated for a moment. "Hmm, let's see… Six, maybe?"

"Gee, thanks," Johnny said sarcastically, easing up again. "Anyway, you're brother could do better. Sandy's a seven, I'd say."

"Really?" Ponyboy sounded surprised.

"Yeah," said Johnny. "Well, what do you think she is?"

"…Yeah, I guess you're right. Seven." Ponyboy turned the page. He laughed. "Look at Evie! She's probably a seven, too, but she took a bad picture."

"She was sneezing when they took it," Johnny told him. "That's just some bad luck."

"Yeah, it is. But it's the opposite of Soda's situation in this case. Evie can do better," said Ponyboy matter-of-factly.

"You think?" asked Johnny.

"Yeah, definitely," said Ponyboy. "Steve, he's a three, if that."

"Nah, you're not thinking like a girl," Johnny replied. "He's got to be higher than that… Maybe."

Ponyboy laughed again. "Make up your mind, man. Is he or isn't he? Steve, he's always got some oil something on him, from working on those cars all day long."

"I'm telling you, Ponyboy, girls like that stuff," Johnny tried to convince the younger greaser.

"Still though," Ponyboy went on, "have you ever felt his hands? They're all calloused and hard and everything. And I bet he doesn't even know how to be gentle. Besides, he's always getting roughed up from fighting all the time."

"That makes him seem tough," Johnny persisted. "Girls like tough guys."

"Yeah, well, he's no Dallas Winston, and he's no Sodapop either. I don't see why girls like him. He's a three, at best." It seemed to Johnny that Ponyboy was just being sour, but he did not say so.

Ponyboy flipped to the very front of the book where it showed the seniors. After glancing at various pictures, he finally pointed to one. "I'd say she's a ten," he told Johnny.

"Let me see," complained Johnny. Ponyboy turned the book over to him, keeping his finger on the picture.

The girl had perfectly curled platinum blonde hair that extended much further than you could tell from the picture. Her teeth were shiny and white, her skin was clear, and she had bright, pale eyes. You could tell from her face that she was… well, matured.

'Yeah," Johnny said, "yeah, she is. Man… you know what I would do for her?"

"I know what I would do for her," sighed Ponyboy.

"I would sell my shoes," Johnny told his friend.

"I would sell my pants," countered Ponyboy.

Johnny glared up at the boy with playfully narrowed eyes. He sensed a challenge coming on. "I would _donate_ my pants."

"I would donate my bed."

"I'd replace my bed with a bed of nails."

"I'd swallow nails for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"I'd _give her_ my breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"I'd follow her wherever she went."

"I'd carry her wherever she went."

"I'd fight off ten Socs."

"I'd fight Dallas Winston."

"Would you really?" Ponyboy asked. Johnny, who was still caught up in the moment, put on a tough-guy face and nodded. "You do and I'll give you five bucks, and I'll help you ask Miss-" he glanced down at the yearbook, "-Teresa King out on a date." Before Johnny could think straight, he was shaking Ponyboy's hand.

Later that night, the whole gang sat in the living room of the Curtis' house. Everyone had just finished dinner, and Ponyboy kept trying to signal to Johnny to do it. He was not worried; he knew Dally would not really hurt Johnny if the greaser did follow through. He just wanted to see how far his friend would really go for that girl in the yearbook. Ponyboy finally caught Johnny's eye. He nodded distinctly, a sure sign of what he wanted the boy to do.

Johnny nodded back and swallowed hard before standing up. He was so nervous that his knees were shaking when he walked over to where Dally sat on the couch. When Dallas looked up, Johnny took hold of his arm and stood him up in front of him. Johnny wiped his palms on his jeans and tried to still his muscles, but it did little good. Plus, he was sweating all over.

"Hey, Dal," he said. His voice was shaky. "I've got to fight you. Don't ask why, but I've got to do this. I'm sorry, Dally…" Johnny closed his eyes and pulled his arm back. He knew that he would have to take the first swing. It was the only hit he would get in before his teeth were slammed out through the back of his throat. All fights consisted of two people going at each other; it would not count if Dally just beat him up. He threw his fist to where he hoped Dally's face would be and…

Dallas barely felt it when Johnny's hand touched his shoulder. Johnny froze and waited to be slammed to the ground and stepped on like a bug. When the hit still did not come, he opened his eyes a crack and looked up at Dally.

Instead of seeing the greaser about to hit him, Dallas was just standing there grinning. Letting out a small laugh, Dally grabbed Johnny and pulled him into an awkward sort of half-hug. Then after a moment, he reached down the back of younger boy's jeans and yanked his underwear up, kind of hard. Johnny let out a squeal before he was grabbed in a headlock by Two-Bit.

"Aww, look at little Johnnycake," he cooed, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Come on, Two-Bit, lay off," Johnny said, pushing away from his friend.

"Yeah, I'm glad you went easy of old Dally over there!" Two-Bit went on sarcastically.

Dallas stood there, still laughing. Ponyboy and Sodapop were giggling uncontrollably, and even Steve and Darry were chuckling.

"Come on guys," Darry cut in, ending the fun. "You have school tomorrow, and Soda and I have work. Let's all get to bed _on time_ tonight."

The next day at school, Ponyboy and Johnny went looking for Teresa. They had heard she was on the lower part of middle class, so she should not be too hard to get to. The two boys finally spotted her as they were leaving the cafeteria. Luckily, she was alone.

Johnny, feeling almost sick with fear, made sure Ponyboy was watching before he went up to make his move. However, he had barely gotten within ten feet of the blonde-haired beauty before she turned around to face another boy. He lightly pecked her on the lips, and then led her away in the opposite direction.

Feeling a little down, but not exactly surprised, Johnny stalked back to Ponyboy. "She's taken, man," he said glumly.

Ponyboy clapped Johnny on the back. "That's rough, Johnnycake."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there! Did you guys notice how long it's been since I last posted something? Yeah, I've been pretty busy, what with starting my new school and my sports starting back up again. Plus, I've been working on some projects too. **

**Anyway, I'm on crutches now. =/ The tendons in my right knee got inflamed. Obviously, I can't do any sports until I get better, so I'll have some free time for about two weeks. On the other hand, I will have to go to physical therapy too. I'm just glad that it was nothing serious that would bring me out of anything permanently. It's kind of bad for me, but lucky for you guys, because that means that I'll get the chance to write some more fanfiction now (don't you dare smirk at the computer like that! ;) ). **

**Disclaimer: So I was sitting in my room watching two of the best movies I have ever seen when I realized that it had been almost two months since I had last seen **_**The Outsiders**_**! That obviously had to change, and when it did, I felt the urge to limp over to my computer and do some fanfiction-ing. Evidently, I don't own **_**The Outsiders**_**, I just like to think in my head that I do, for my own amusement.**

Johnny Cade wouldn't really consider himself a close personal friend of Steve Randle. Actually, he would only consider himself a close personal friend of the brother of the close personal friend of Steve Randle. In truth, Johnny had always been wary, and just a little bit scared, of Steve. Maybe that's why Johnny felt _just a little bit_ awkward when he was left alone with the guy. But just a little bit.

You see, it had originally been almost the entire gang together at the DX. Of course, Darry had been at his job, and Ponyboy had been staying after school for a track meet, but everyone else had been there. That is, until girls showed up. Then all of a sudden, Dally, Two-bit, and Soda were taking Sylvia, Sandy, and Kathy out for a "fun night" as they liked to call it. Something told Johnny he wouldn't have been having much fun. Steve was still working his shift, to the great disappointment of Evie. She had volunteered to stay, and Johnny was just about to slip out the door, but Steve had to go and ruin it. He had to go make it awkward.

"Nah, you go along with them, baby," he said, pecking her on the lips. "I want you to have fun. Besides," he suddenly grabbed Johnny's collar and pulled him back, wrapping an arm around his neck, "I've got Johnnycake here to keep me company."

Smiling and giggling, Evie had trotted out the door, wishing the two a good night. Yeah, right. Johnny had the feeling that things weren't going to turn out well.

"So, Johnny…" Steve said awkwardly, leaning on the counter. "Ummm… How's it going?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders, looking down. "Fine, I guess."

Steve nodded. There was so much discomfort between them, you could practically paint it green. Johnny's palms because to sweat. Steve cracked his knuckles. Johnny scratched the back of his head, and Steve scratched his leg with his opposite foot. Then Steve leaned toward the back room. "Umm, I need to, umm… yeah. So I'm just gonna… Gonna go, and… yeah… I need to, umm… you know, and…" Unable to think of a proper excuse, Steve slapped his hands together. "Okay. And… yeah… I'm just gonna… yup. Yeah, it's, uh… I really need to, umm… Okay, yeah, I'll just… yeah…" Fed up, Steve darted into the backroom and slammed the door shut.

As soon as Steve was gone, Johnny sighed. He could finally relax for a second. Why would Steve practically force him to stay if it was going to be so weird? He wondered if he should just leave now…

Suddenly the door to the back room opened again. "Um, Johnny?" Steve called.

"Yeah?" Johnny replied.

"Could you come back here?"

"Sure thing." Johnny began to walk over.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Steve called frantically. "Could you come around the other way?" he asked.

"Uh, sure…" Johnny replied, a little confused. He walked out through the front of the building to go around to the back, where the other entrance was. Just as he was about to walk in, the door flew open and four huge, loud, rambunctious, testosterone-pumped teenage boys jumped out at him, spraying him with white foam.

Screaming, Johnny fell backwards. He winced as his tailbone hit the pavement roughly, knowing it would bruise. His heart rate shot up and his eyes were practically bugging out of his head. Johnny felt his throat grow hoarse as his screams continued. He shrieked as the shaving cream coated his hair, dripped onto his face, and down his clothes. Rolling onto his back, Johnny felt someone heavy land on top of him.

It took a second for Johnny to calm down even after he realized what was going on. Two-bit hurriedly scrambled off of him, and Dally, laughing, grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him up off the ground, clapping him on the shoulder. Soda joined in, grabbing Johnny in a huge bear hug as he tried to stop laughing. Steve sprayed the rest of his shaving cream onto the two of them before tossing his can aside. Two-bit was still on the ground, face red as he roared with laughter. He tried to stand, only to fall back down as soon as he got to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Johnny!" Steve yelled. "It was just too good to pass up! We were going to get Pony, but he ain't here, and you're the next best thing!"

Sighing, Johnny closed his eyes, realizing why Ponyboy didn't like Steve, and wondering why he was laughing at himself.

**Okay, so this one didn't exactly turn out how I thought it was going to. Still, I like it. Like I said, this is just a way for me to get over my writer's block and get back into the flow of writing fanfiction. I know it's odd, and probably out of character, but I just need silly little stories like this sometimes to get me going. I just had to add Steve in there, I've always been fascinated with how people always make him the bad guy, but I don't really think he is (He's actually one of my favorite characters.) I tried to make him a little more fun in this story. Anyway, feel free to tell me what you think. Even if you hated it, let me know. In fact, feel free to hate on this and flame it all you want =) I will absolutely not be offended. If you don't feel like flaming, constructive criticism always helps…? Both on technique (grammar, spelling) and on content, I would love to hear what you have to say.**

**P.S. I hope there weren't too many spelling errors, the A key on my laptop isn't working right, it doesn't always type when you press it. **

**P.S.2. Thanks for everyone who has reviewed any of my stories so far. Your thoughts do not go unnoticed, and they always help convince me to write something else. I realize that I have't had the time to review all of your stories, so instead I'll post your names down here in the hopes that anyone else who reads this will look at them and read some of your stories as well. If I spelled any of your names wrong, I am sooo sorry. You can PM me about it, or correct it in the review section.**

**My Lovely Reviewers: alsonny, Lillia-Lillia, TheNightimeSky, writersblock242, Pepsi-Cola16, AmandaLovesTwilight, stuckxrunningxupxthatxhill, spicygurl, gumdropj, Nanook026, crazy4tv, and Dessers. **

**(To view their profiles, try typing in ( ****.net/~**** ) and then their username with all lowercase letters, as one word, with no punctuation. That usually works.)**


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